You don't have to be from Kumamoto Prefecture to know Kumamon — a cute red-cheeked black bear who was officially introduced as the region's yurukyara (mascot character) in 2010. Since his appearance, he has arguably become one of the hottest yurukyara, along with Funabashi's blue-aproned pear, Funassyi. In fact, Kumamon has proven so popular that he's even traveled abroad to promote the prefecture in China, Singapore and France, and was recently seen performing his Kumamon dance in front of the Emperor.